Get Smart 'is homage to Bond films'

"This movie gets closer to the Bondian type of movie and that was by design," says Peter, who adapted the film from the 1960s TV series created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry.

"Mel Brooks said he wanted to take the James Bond franchise and see if he could push it one further inch into comedy and hence Get Smart was born," he adds.

"He thought that Maxwell Smart was the offspring of James Bond and Inspector Clouseau. I think there's something about the spy genre which just appeals internationally. When I did Naked Gun we came to the UK and it did incredibly well and, again it felt like a homage to that genre."

However, Peter and star Steve Carell decided they needed to modernise their movie a bit.

"Steve and I decided to take what people love about the original series and inject a Bourne Identity quality to it in terms of the scope, locations and action," he says. "And if we can squeeze as many jokes into that envelope then it might appeal."